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Standard Chartered's Renminbi Globalisation Index (RGI) fell in March for the first time since October 2012, the bank said in a May 7 report. The fall was a result of a weaker exchange rate, falling offshore RMB deposits and slim volumes of new dim sum bonds hitting the market.

Bondholders who showed faith in Pacific Rubiales could be spectacularly rewarded after Colombia’s largest private oil company entered into exclusive discussions with Grupo Alfa and Harbour Energy, who made a $1.7bn joint bid for the firm.

Votorantim Cimentos sold the first Brazilian cross-border bond of 2015 on Thursday but the reaction to the deal was concerned with the volatility in the euro market than any implications for Brazil.

Swiss cement maker Holcim is in a stand-off with its relationship banks over whether it can receive negative interest payments on its Swiss franc revolving credit facility, amid deeply negative interest rates, writes Elly Whittaker.

Haniel achieved on Wednesday evening a combined sale of Metro shares and notes exchangeable into Metro shares, in an overnight deal that totalled just under €1bn and tapped heavily into Europe’s increasing trend toward negative yields.

As block trade bankers had predicted, the fireworks are starting again as companies emerge from blackouts. Five deals totalling €2.8bn were sold on Wednesday night, but there were no auctions: all of them were mandated trades, leaving banks away from the action with nothing to bid on.

As block trade bankers had predicted, the fireworks are starting again as companies emerge from blackouts. Five deals totalling €2.8bn were sold on Wednesday night, but there were no auctions: all of them were mandated trades, leaving banks away from the action with nothing to bid on.

Event driven macroeconomic factors are driving investors to put on options hedges, particularly as sell-offs in credit and interest rate markets spill over to equities, according to strategists.

The prospect of European Central Bank quantitative easing failing to suppress eurozone borrowing costs sent panic through the sovereign, supranational and agency sector this week amid a savage sell-off across European debt markets.

First Gulf Bank’s return to Swiss francs received an enthusiastic welcome on Tuesday as local investors leapt at the chance to buy new high grade paper from the Middle East for the first time in two years.

Dollar deals are dominating European sovereign, supranational and agency commercial paper issuance thanks to a falling euro/dollar cross currency basis swap. European SSAs are also enjoying strong demand for their sterling paper, driven by banks’ withdrawal from CP.

Eircom, the Irish telecoms company, held an investor call on Tuesday for a €2bn amend-and-extend process on its loans that will bring documentation into line with market standards.